I have written a number of guides to help collectors and have taken the trouble to tell you able fake coins and why they are fake.

The purpose of this guide is to provide you with a growing list of the horrors that you should try to avoid and which, if you have bought, you should try to return.

There was a time when I notified bidders that they were bidding for fakes but this has now been blocked by eBay. More recently, a colleague threatened to do the same - and forward his eBay emails to the successful buyer - well, victim actually - so they changed the bidding for that oitem to Bidder 1, Bidder 2, etc, putting paid to my colleague's attempt to save someone from a very expensive mistake. By the way, this also stops you seeing whether the bidder has a track record and knows about coins.

eBay exists to line its own pockets and it will sit idly by watching you being mugged, whilst it feeds its greed for profits.

This guide will be a growing list of fakes and pure silliness and I hope you will notify me of any you find, as you browse eBay, so that I may add them to the list.

Item list:

   270060482277 - fake coin on a brass chain

   270059371403 - looks as if it was cast and not struck

   270059377698 - looks identical to the one above!

   120057641168 - no gold in this one unless gold tarnishes.

   320052291508 - a real £2 coin worth £2! The 1997 coin with the queen wearing a necklace is NOT rare but there are always a few on offer for the unsuspecting.

   260056783965 - yet another 1997 £2 coin.

   290056034765 - A coin worth £2 and someone fool enough to bid £99 for it!

   130054421057 - Just a timely reminder not to buy coins from China as most fakes of silver coins originate there and this is certainly one.

   170071661990 - This one is a trap for the newbies and should not fool experienced collectors - a very shoddy fake of a jubilee sovereign.

Please contact me at lapidary99 at hotmail - sorry to write it this way but this dewals with another obstacle put in place by eBay!